Barrett Lyon wrote:
Incase this has not hit the list yet:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153194/sprint_reconnects_cogent_but_differences_are_unresolved.html
Sprint Reconnects Cogent, but Differences Are Unresolved
Mikael Ricknäs, IDG News Service
Monday, November 03, 2008 7:50 AM PST
On Sunday Sprint Nextel reconnected its network with Cogent
Communications after severing it earlier last week. The reconnection is
only temporary, as the core issues in this dispute have not changed,
Sprint said in a statement to its customers.
As a result, it is again possible for Sprint customers and Cogent
customers to directly communicate across the Internet. Data supplied by
Keynote Systems confirms that the two networks are again communicating
with each other.
Sprint's view of what led up to its disconnecting from Cogent
Communications on Oct. 30 differs substantially from what Cogent has
stated.
In shutting down the peering between the two, Sprint violated a
contractual obligation to exchange Internet traffic with Cogent on a
settlement-free peering basis, according to Cogent. But that's just
fiction, according to Sprint, because at no time did the two enter into
an actual contract.
In 2006, Sprint and Cogent formed a trial agreement that ended in
September last year. A three-month commercial trial indicated that
Cogent didn't meet the minimum traffic exchange criteria agreed to by
both parties, according to Sprint. As a result, settlement-free peering
was not established, Sprint said.
Instead, Sprint wants Cogent to pay for its ongoing connection to the
Sprint network. But despite repeated collection attempts by Sprint,
Cogent has not done that. Nonpayment on Cogent's part is the reason
Sprint decided to disconnect from Cogent last week, a process that had
started on Oct. 7, and shouldn't have come as a surprise for Cogent,
Sprint said in its customer statement.
What happens next remains to be seen. The two operators are involved in
litigation over the matter. Sprint filed a lawsuit against Cogent on
Sept. 2 in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia for breach of contract.
On its part, Cogent said it wants settlement-free peering with Sprint.
So basically, it won't be resolved until Cogent gets to keep free access
to Sprint. Where's my free access to Sprint? Can I cry and scream that I
have to pay for my access too because I don't qualify for free peering?
~Seth
